Iran–Iraq War

Iran–Iraq War (1980–8) One of the longest wars of the century, and one the costliest ($350 bn.) and bloodiest (over 500,000 dead and one million wounded) war since World War II. It was fought over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, the confluence of the Eurphrates and Tigris rivers which forms Iraq's only access to the Persian Gulf. Disputed between Iran and Iraq since their existence, in 1975 the Algiers Agreement had given Iran some 518 km² of land along the waterway in return for Iran's cessation of support for Kurdish rebels in Iraq. In 1980, the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, took advantage of the political confusion after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and launched an invasion into Iran. He demanded not only a revision of the Iraq-Iran border, but also the return of three islands in the Straits of Hormuz seized by Iran in 1971, and the granting of autonomy to minorities in Iran. Superior Iraqi equipment gained some initial successes in September 1980 around Abadan, but Iran resisted strongly and in May 1982 counter-attacked, recovering the port of Khorramshahr. The Iranian army even advanced to occupy some Iraqi territory, including the Magdnum and Fao islands in 1984 and 1986 respectively. The war developed into a war of attrition, and eventually both countries, exhausted from the long war, agreed to a cease-fire based on UN Resolution 598, which came into effect on 20 August 1988. It was only when Hussein needed Iranian goodwill to enable him to conduct the Gulf War against Kuwait that he announced his acceptance of the Algiers Agreement, the release of all prisoners of war, and the withdrawal of all Iraqi soldiers from Iranian territory. While no country gained any territory, in some ways it allowed both dictatorial regimes to establish themselves more firmly, by strengthening their respective armies, and by legitimizing the terror which they executed against internal opposition and national minorities.

Kurdistan